Thinking with Portals! is an Archived Project on LEGO CUUSOO created by Brickthing on June 28th, 2012. The project is based on the Portal franchise produced by Valve. It was created by Team Jigsaw, a global collaboration of Brickthing, Fivey, Kakaru, and Ehl-Jay. The project achieved 10,000 supporters on July 13th, 2012, making it one of the fastest projects to reach 10,000 in LEGO CUUSOO's history. Though part of the 2012 Fall Review, when the results for the three projects were released, a formal decision for this project had not been reached, and so, its review was continued until LEGO decided not to produce it. LEGO has yet to make an official statement concerning why the project was not produced.

This message was written by the creator of the project. Do not modify the message in any way.

As your Companion Cube may have told you (and we remind you that the Companion Cube cannot speak. In the event that the Companion Cube does speak, the Enrichment Center urges you to disregard its advice. ), we've been developing a Portal Cuusoo Project for some time now. The two seem to mix well, Lego and Portal, the basic bricks and tiles can easily and perfectly (with a little brickmath) replicate the standard setting of Portal, the iconic Testing Chambers. But for the more complex assets of the game, notably GLaDOS, there is satisfying level of difficulty, but still an elegant and representative translation. Lego and Portal will mesh nicely, each enhancing the other, the whole greater than the sum of it's parts.

Now, let us flick forward in time a few months. A word of advice. If you notice yourself trying to warn you about supporting this project, do not make eye contact and ignore whatever you say. Lab boys tell me that'll wipe out time - entirely. Forward and backward. So do both of yourselves a favor and let that handsome devil go about his business.

We brainstormed for quite a while before crystallizing our various ideas and the multitudinous remarkable things about Portal, Portal 2 and related storyline into a few sets.

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UPDATE - Wow, the project is over two thirds of the way there! Thank you so much for all of your support, and all of the bloggers, news agents and tweeters who have shared this project! But we still need your help to spread the word to more people! Tell your friends, your co-workers and your co-workers' daughters during Bring Your Daughter To Work Day!

As thanks for your phenominal support, Team Jigsaw has put together 10 high-res LEGO Portal Wallpapers, which we'll be releasing at each new milestone leading up to 10,000 supports!

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"I hope you brought something stronger than a portal gun this time. Otherwise, I'm afraid you're about to become the immediate past president of the Being Alive Club, haha."

GLaDOS' Chamber

Primary Designer: Evan
Chell is trapped in the Aperture Science complex!
Lead through test after test by GLaDOS, Chell has finally found the psychotic robot's lair!
Will she succeed in destroying her nemesis? The final battle and the fate of Aperture lies in your hands!

Includes three minifigures, Chell, Wheatley, and the famous potato.
Features battle platform, portal gun, and GLaDOS
GLaDOS can swing a full 360 degrees and is able to rotate her head in all directions
Perform a core transfer with Wheatley and GLaDOS!
Battle platform is over 5" (15cm) long
GLaDOS is over 9" (22cm) wide, and over 12" (30cm) high
Parts count: 499+

"You know what my days used to be like? I just tested. Nobody murdered me, or put me in a potato, or fed me to birds. I had a pretty good life. And then you showed up. You dangerous, mute lunatic"

Modular Testing Chamber

Primary Designer: Nick
Make your very own Test Chamber out of LEGO, in any way that you want! First build the modular frame to the dimensions you choose, and then fill the walls and floor with tiles, platforms, buttons and more! Finally, add accessories such as turrets, cubes, small buttons, signs, cameras and most importantly, test subjects!

Includes four minifigures, Chell and 3 Aperture Science Sentry Turrets.
Completely modular design allows you to redesign the chamber for different tests.
Solve button puzzles with the Weighted Storage Cube, or dodge the laser sights of an array of turrets!
Use the 4 different pattern tiles to create any 2 digit number for the level sign.
Discover a hidden Ratman den behind the testing chamber walls.
Standard Testing Chamber arrangement is over 10" (25cm) long, 5" (12cm) deep and 6" (15cm) tall!
Combine multiple Modular Testing Chamber sets and your own module designs for unlimited variations. The possibilities are endless!
Parts Count: ???

Like the Portal games, this is an enthralling battle of wits! Build baffling chambers using the instructions in the included Puzzle Booklet, and solve them with your Portal Device and innate cunning! If you beat all of the included chamber designs, get a friend to design a new one, or find additional fan made puzzles online. This is an indispensable 3D board game for any Portal fan!

"Most test subjects do experience some, uh, cognitive deterioration after a few months in suspension."

Despite the popularity of Portal and its sequel, it is rumored that some people don't know exactly what this masterpiece of a game is. Put briefly, GLaDOS is the antagonist, and Chell is the portal-gun-ist! Get it? Er, anyway, here are a few of the minifigs that we've designed to be included in the sets. Post in the comments to suggest which other minifigs you'd like to see!

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Background Information

This project was put together by four Lego enthusiasts. This group (known as Team Jigsaw) was originally assembled in 2011 to compete in a massive month-long MOCing competition, testing our steel against the most tempered foils in the Lego building racket. In 2011 twenty-one teams brawled in the MocAthalon, and our team finished in Third place. In 2012 thirty-nine teams strove in Lego conflict, and our team came in Second place. Suffice to say we can plot a line graph and are optimistic for 2013.

These long, successful competitions tend to form a bond, and our team has stayed in touch since the last competition, having fun, honing our story-telling abilities in creative writing scrimmages, building, painting and making total fools of ourselves.

Nick (Brickthing): A New Zealander Bionicle enthusiast, currently attending University in pursuit of an engineering degree. In his spare time he paints, plots and pwns.

John (Fivey): An east coast American and the founder of Team Jigsaw, who stays up until 5 AM when collaborating on mad projects (such as this one). With a ken for organizing and a lust for creative prowess, he orchestrates and participates in many wild Lego contests.

Micah (Kakaru): Odds are you have seen an MOC or two built by his hands. An avid Lego fan, builder, writer, and reporter, he has creative abilities that are sometimes virtually indistinguishable from madness.

Evan (Ehl-jay): A denizen of Hawaii, the creator of a wildly popular Portal vignette, and a significant presence in the Lego Flickr community, he has been MOCing for years at a ridiculous pace.

Why are we doing this? For Science!

Please show your support and share the project with your friends! All supporters will get cake*!

Aperture Science is required to remind you that all willing supporters must first be baked in order to qualify for cake.

This message was written by the LEGO CUUSOO Team. Do not modify the message in any way.

Congratulations on 5,000 Supporters!

2012.07.02

Dear Team Jigsaw,

Congratulations on quickly passing this milestone of 5,000 supporters on LEGO CUUSOO for the Thinking in Portals project! You're halfway there!

You did a wonderful job of capturing the Portal environment and characters with your renderings in this project. We also like how you have presented several possible concepts for sets that capture the essence of the game.

Note that as a part of our move to streamline the review process, we will not be producing concept models for projects before the review. However, at that time we will serve cake.

Best wishes as you continue on your journey to achieving 10,000 supporters.

The LEGO CUUSOO Team

This message was written by the LEGO CUUSOO Team. Do not modify the message in any way.

Congrats on 10,000 Supporters, Brickthing and Team Jigsaw!

2012.07.13

Again, great work with this project, with presenting several viable Portal 2 product concepts, and effectively connecting with an audience that wants to see a LEGO set based on Portal 2 happen.

Congratulations on achieving 10,000 supporters. We now officially advance this project to the Review phase.

What happens now?
This project moves from the Idea stage to the Review stage. A "LEGO Jury" composed of designers, product managers, and other key team members will examine the idea. We'll build concept models, put them in our test chamber, bake them, and determine if the concept meets our high standards for what it takes to be a LEGO product. This includes factors such as playability, safety, and fit with the LEGO brand. Every potential LEGO product goes through a process like this and must meet the same standards.

The review is a thorough process and from its start, and can take several months. When finished, we make a "go/no go" decision to develop and sell a product based on the Thinking with Portals! concept.

When the review is complete, we will inform you of our decision. If green-lit, this project goes into the longest phase of the project; the Development phase. During this time, LEGO model designers refine the product and develop it for release, we create the product materials (box, instructions, marketing), and get everything ready for a production run. This also takes several months.

We will post follow-up information and our decision here.

So, what's for dessert?

The LEGO CUUSOO Team

This message was written by the LEGO CUUSOO Team. Do not modify the message in any way.

LEGO Review Update for Thinking with Portals!

2013.06.15

Congratulations again to Brickthing and Team Jigsaw for reaching 10,000 supporters on LEGO CUUSOO, and toward everyone for all your support for the Thinking with Portals! project.
As of today, the test results are not yet in; we’re still looking into the possibility of releasing a set based on the Thinking with Portals! Project. Once we have a decision, we’ll share it with you here and on the LEGO CUUSOO blog.